The last sage
by Bossaholic371
Summary: Antonio didn't want to be a sage he didn't want to be the last hope of his race but as always he never had a choice...
1. Prologue: the fire

Prologue:

Antonio knew some thing was wrong when he smelled the smoke, as the acrid smell flowed through his nostrils and then he knew. He also knew that he needed to see it to believe it. Antonio slowly lifted his head over the log pile his mother had instructed him too, he hid behind what could have,it had only been less than ten minutes ago but felt like hours to the 6 year old boy.

As his muddy brown eyes came over the last piece of wood he saw it. The small thatched cottage he had lived in all his life with his mother and father, it was on fire, it burned with a intensity that he had never seen during the long winter evenings, when his dad had first shown him what fire was always warning him of the dangers and what fire.

"Fire is a destructive thing Anton." His father would tell him calling him by the nickname he always preferred. "If we aren't always careful and if so much as an ember hits the walls this whole place could come down so quick you wouldn't have time to blink."

To Antonio it seemed to take an age. The hungry flames ate at the house so slowly it seemed to him that they thoroughly enjoyed the task and wanted to feast as long as possible. Yet this might have appeared an accident however the solders appearance proved the contrary.

The soliders were all dressed in a very self flattering uniform with no actual pieces of armour apart from a hardend leather breast plate with the emporers insigna of a knight choking a dragon to death while its spurting flamed madly. They all carried rapiers of a fine metal that was legended to be unbreakable . There were five of them excluding the man currently holding a torch to the house, adding even more flames to the already of the raging inferno.

Antonio looked around for his parents before seeing two crumpled figures on the floor, one of which had blood trickleling from a wound from the head. As he watched them hoping for some sign or reaction to show him that they were still alive a solider had walked over prodding them with his renenforiced boot before shouting.

"Hey Roberts they're still kicking but the female isn't doing so well."

As Antonio's heart leaped for joy the next words destroyed what fragile hope he had.

"As long as they live for his majesty to execute he won't care". The man named Roberts called back. "When is he getting here anyway?"

The solider holding the torch replied "He shouldn't be to much longer he just has to get his pet sage to perform that sick ritual of theirs."

An eerie silence grew over the following minutes only broken by a horse's whine, or the odd moan by Antonios mother as she slipped in and out of consiousness until over the unbroken horizon the beat of a convey of horses. As they rode into view Antonio could make out two important figures, the first of which was the emporer himself, he was of average height but of a stocky body which still led to the belief that he had yet the opportunity to give up being a warrior yet.

The emporer and his convey reined in their horses before swifty dismounting and looking around allowing Antonio to catch a view of his eyes, which were pure black in colour like they were holes of pure darkness, striding beside him was a man dressed in a black cloak and skintight leotard completely obscuring all of his flesh but watching all the hardened soldiers that flinch and shrink from his gaze, for this man has a reputation or is he just a repulsive man.

The cloaked man knelt next to Antonios father and started muttering indescribable words into thin air before a sudden woosh of blasting hot air, that seemed to come from the man himself. There was a blast and the next thing Antonio knew he was lying down with darkness creeping into his vision before everything went black...


	2. Chapter 1: the pit

Chapter 1. The Pit

Antonio groaned as he got out of his bed which was mostly used hay he had scavenged form the other pit crawlers that lived down here in the catacombs underneath the arena. It had been 10 years since the attack on his home and his capture by the remaining soldiers that had survived the explosion caused by the mysterious man called "the sage", he had been forced onto a farm untill he was 13 then he was thrown into the pit to get ready for the combats.

The combats are a series of fights to the death a slave, prisoner or disgraced soldier may participate in to gain immediate entry into the army of the empire or if you are a crowd favourite freedom. The empire gave you enough coins to buy a small house or farm and start over free and completely accepted by the public as an equal citizen of the empire.

The combats are also a public thing to watch and is much loved by the citizens of the empire and the game days are a holiday to all as they happen once a year for one whole month of pure fighting and gore and the stench of death. "If this is what it takes to please the crowds come combat day what would it take to enrage them" Antonio thought as he hiked up to the first level of the catacombs to assist his champion.

The champions were the fighters that showed to most promise to the organisers of the combats so they were feed extra, clothed better, even had weapons training pre-combat to assure the crowd of a good fight. The reason the dwellers of the catacombs nicknamed the pit crawlers put up with this is because if there champion of there section win they get moved into the retreat which is a luxury building made to accomodate the winners section for one month after the games, feasts, wine, woman, you name it they got it in the retreat.

He ran up to the area directly underneath the arena where in 7 days he would climb up to the arena and fight to the death with a boys his age from the other 19 sections, but he tried not to let that thought cloud his mind as he approached his sector 5 champion who was at this moment being instructed in sword fighting by a senior guard that was supposed to be in duty making sure the champion didn't get any experienced tutoring.

The irony seemed to elude the guard as he tried to demonstrate a simple overhead swipe or sycthing movement designed for a quick slice at the jugular or in if chosen decapitation of the victim. Antonio smilied as he settled into his task of polishing the armour of his champion as the Champion swung his sword it flew out of his grip and struck the stone wall above Antonio where it stuck neatly between the stones, a good shot if it had been thrown intentionally but it hadn't.

"Oi runt get my sword you rotten sack of filth" Champion bellowed.

"I can't I'm polishing your shield Frederick as you requested" responded one of the other boys working in the room.

"Not you Scott I meant the runt Antonio" Frederick growled out, starting to walk towards Antonio.

"I'm not a runt Frederick" quipped Antonio knowing full well that he was smaller and less stocky than Frederick.

The next thing Antonio knew there was a boot connected to his ribs and he was on the floor Frederick's boot on his rib cage pressing down on him constricting him of air while Fredrick himself was keeling down with his dagger point at his throat threatening him with a quick slice to end it all.

" I'll ask again runt get my sword or you become my personal sword rack your choice? Because I personally don't care which" Fredrick whispered to him in such a dangerous tone he could not have pulled off when shouting.

Antonio pretended to be to busy chocking to answer him untill Fredrick finally moved his foot off his chest when he struck. He first kneed Fredrick in the stomach, stole the dagger from his hand and punched the side of his head with such force he nearly fell unconscious before standing up.

"Next time you try to hold someone on the floor try not leave their hands free to kick your ass" Antonio spat towards the boy now gasping for air before walking out of the room full of disbelieving faces.

Once he was out of sight he began running through the pits many hidden corridors losing himself in the maze before disbelief turned into anger and from anger the need to beat him senseless for hitting there champion. He after what felt like hours of running he arrived underneath a trapdoor with an Ajoining ladder leading upwards.

He was a coulple of rungs up the ladder when he froze. He could hear a voice the other side of the trap door it was sweet and just the sound of it made Antonio need to hear more he rushed up the ladder burst through the trapdoor before Looking around where he was he noted the trapdoor was concealed underneath a rug in what was obviously a bedroom of nobility and luxury.

As he looked around he saw the bed but the was someone on it, the face of the beautiful young woman in the bed contorted in shock and then she started screaming.


End file.
